Maurice Quinlivan
Ceist:89. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Taoiseach the number of Irish companies exporting to Britain in 2017. [52863/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 12 December 2017
Ceisteanna (89, 90, 91)
Maurice Quinlivan
Ceist:90. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Taoiseach the number of companies exporting from Britain to Ireland in 2017. [52864/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraMaurice Quinlivan
Ceist:91. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Taoiseach the estimated number of Irish businesses engaged in trade with Britain in 2017; and the estimated number of employees employed by these companies. [52865/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
I propose to take Questions Nos. 89 to 91, inclusive, together.
The information on the number of businesses exporting to Great Britain and the numbers of people employed as requested by the Deputy is not available.
Trade in goods data between Ireland and Great Britain is collected via the Intrastat survey, which is carried out by VIMA (Revenue Commissioners) on behalf of the CSO. In order to minimise the burden on enterprises, only those whose exports exceed €635,000 per annum or whose imports exceed €500,000 per annum are included in the survey. There are around 2,200 exporters and 5,500 importers required to complete this survey on a monthly basis. This covers 98.8% of the total value of exports and 96.5% of the total value of imports.
The CSO makes estimates for the remaining enterprises whose trade is below the threshold level. In 2017, this equates to around 9,800 exporters and 43,000 importers. As detailed data is not available for these enterprises, it is not possible to state how many of these enterprises export to Great Britain, or the employment levels of these enterprises.
The CSO does not compile statistics on exports by companies in Britain, as it does not have access to the detailed data compiled by HMRC or the ONS which would enable these statistics to be compiled.